Manifesto Has Latin Roots

Noun

Manifesto is related to manifest, which occurs in English as a noun, verb, and adjective. Of these, the adjective, which means "readily perceived by the senses" or "easily recognized," is oldest, dating to the 14th century. Both manifest and manifesto derive ultimately from the Latin noun manus ("hand") and -festus, a combining form that is related to the Latin adjective infestus, meaning "hostile." Something that is manifest is easy to perceive or recognize, and a manifesto is a statement in which someone makes his or her intentions or views easy for people to ascertain. Perhaps the most famous statement of this sort is the Communist Manifesto, written in 1848 by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels to outline the platform of the Communist League.

Examples of manifesto in a Sentence

Noun

The group's manifesto focused on helping the poor and stopping violence.

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'manifesto.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.